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The Bible: Exploring Facts and Myths About the Word of God  /  The Apostle's Bible (Part 1)  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 2
In Hebrews 1:6, Bercot highlights that “let all the angels of God worship him” appears in the Septuagint (Deut 32:43) but “isn’t even found in the Masoretic.” How does that example challenge the way many Christians instinctively define the “real” Old Testament, and what would it mean to treat the apostles’ assumed Bible as authoritative for Christian doctrine?
Another way to ask: If Hebrews quotes a line found in the Septuagint but not in the Masoretic (Heb 1:6 / Deut 32:43), how does that challenge what people call the “real” Old Testament? What would change if we treated the apostles’ Bible as the authority for Christian teaching?

Direct Answer The example challenges the instinct that the Hebrew-based Masoretic text automatically defines the “real” Old Testament, because the New Testament treats the Septuagint wording as Scripture. Treating the apostles’ assumed Bible as authoritative would mean allowing the Septuagintal form to carry real doctrinal weight when it is the basis of apostolic teaching.

Support from Transcript:

  • Bercot says the big question is which text the apostles used, and answers, “about 90% of the time they quoted from the Septuagint,” likely “100%,” with some quotes not matching surviving copies due to variations.
  • In Hebrews 1:6 the writer quotes, “let all the angels of God worship him,” and the margin points to Deut 32:43.
  • In the Masoretic/KJV Deut 32:43, that line is “not even there…not in the next verse or any verse around it.”
  • In the Septuagint Deut 32:43 it reads, “Rejoice ye heavens with him, and let all the angels of God worship him.”
  • Bercot argues the writer “assumes his readers had the same Old Testament he did,” implying that for early Christians, the authoritative “Scripture” in practice was the Greek Septuagint.
Discussion Follow-ups If a key Christ-centered line is missing from our default Old Testament base text, what does that mean for how we define “biblical” proof?

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